Incorporating Consumer Insights into the UK Food Packaging Supply Chain in the Transition to a Circular Economy

Abstract

The growth of eating lunch purchased out of the home has led to an increased need for pre-packaged food-to-go products. Single-use plastic packaging is frequently chosen for its food safety and convenience attributes; however, the material format is under scrutiny due to concerns over economic waste and environmental impact. A circular economy could transform linear make-use-dispose supply chains into circular systems, ensuring the cycling of valuable plastic resources. However, there has been limited research into how consumers will behave within circular economic systems. Understanding consumer behaviour with packaging disposed out of the home could aid designers in developing solutions society will adopt in the transition to a circular economy. This study evaluates the application of behaviour research methods, and the behavioural insight outputs, with stakeholders from the UK food-to-go packaging supply chain. A novel co-design workshop and business origami technique allowed multiple stakeholder groups to collaboratively discuss, evaluate, and plan how consumer behaviour techniques could be used within their supply chain packaging development process. Although all stakeholders identified strengths in incorporating behaviour studies into the development process, providing essential knowledge feedback loops, barriers to their application include the cost and time to implement, plus the existing inconsistent UK waste infrastructure.

Circular Food Behaviors: A Literature Review

“…The lack of information-for example, on the sustainability of different packaging [48] and upcycled food ingredients [39]-showed a need to communicate better with consumers [44]. Further consumption-related barriers found were food neophobia [41,42] and food technology neophobia [17,38] (although food neophobia was not relevant in all cases, e.g., [39]); lack of acceptance of insect as a food source [42,47,49,50] and food produced with upcycled ingredients [18,39]; globalized diets leading to inattention towards diversified, local and seasonal foods [17]; the change of shopping habits [44] and dietary choices [13]; lack of convenience [1,28,44]; adaptation to new technologies [46]; perception of risk in new food technologies [34]; lack of planning in food purchases [51]; the perceived tradeoff between sustainability and taste [36]; unfamiliarity with the "circular economy" term [43]; and the negative influence of the media [44,52].…”

“…In circular behaviors, consumers actively and voluntarily engage in circular practices and long-term relationships [56]. They assume responsibility for their behaviors [18,57] and for the design, use, and disposal of products [52,59] and have a set of skills that support circular food behaviors. Some niche experiments become mainstream, some remain a niche, and others disappear [13].…”

“…These different engagement levels presuppose that not only consumers get involved. Multiple stakeholders-such as industries, the government, social research, media, retailers, consumer organizations, the food and packaging design industry, and circular economy groups [13,46,47,49,51,52,57,59,69]-should focus "on the collective efforts that are necessary to build a more resilient food system" [57] (p. 174). The behavioral changes towards circular food systems have to occur in a broad, systemic [51], economic, social [60], political [57], and cultural [1,57] level.…”

“…In transitioning behaviors, consumers experiment and adopt new technologies that support the circular economy. This experimentation may involve radical innovations, as insects as animal feed [19,59], refrigerators and freezers with "integrated storage solutions and tools for measuring shelf life" [51] (p. 1440) or technologies in food packaging [44], such as QR codes that interact with bins and aid consumers in the disposal process [52]. Innovations are consumer-oriented and may be developed in collaborative approaches, such as co-creation [43], co-innovation, or co-design [70].…”

“…Both in transitioning and circular behaviors, technologies connect, inform, and educate consumers and have the potential to bridge the "circularity holes" in food chains [45]. They can educate about a product's benefits, indicate how and where to dispose of products [44,52], guide consumers towards healthier and more sustainable food choices [13], and increase transparency in the food chain [63]. Digital means and online communities-such as information and communications technologies, apps, digital platforms, and social networks-disseminate established practices and simplify and amplify the connections between different actors [45].…”